NUMERICAL SOLUTION OF VOLTERRA INTEGRO-DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS BY AKBARI-GANJI’S METHOD

In this study, Akbari-Ganji’s Method (AGM) was applied to solve Volterra Integro-Differential Difference Equations (VIDDE) using Legendre polynomials as basis functions. Here, a trial solution function of unknown constants that conform with the differential equations together with the initial conditions were assumed and substituted into the equations under consideration. The unknown coefficients are solved for using the new proposed approach, AGM which principally involves the application of the boundary conditions on successive derivatives and integrals of the problem to obtain a system of equations. The system of equation is solved using any appropriate computer software, Maple 18. Some examples were solved and the results compared to the exact solutions

An integrated low carbon energy solution to cooking fuel, tailored to Niger state’s rural population

Niger State (Nigeria) was selected as a case study of renewable, affordable and user friendly clean energy provision in remote areas of developing countries. Niger state has 80% of its 4.5 million population living in rural agrarian areas with low literacy rates, there is a lack of wind thus eliminating wind as widely available potential power source. Based on the assessment of the local large insolation, the type of agricultural, biomass and husbandry resources, this study selected the design of anaerobic digestion units processing mostly animal and human waste, and whose heating and power requirement would be entirely provided by solar photovoltaic/thermal to maintain optimum efficiency of the biogas production. The designs was carried out at the scale of up to 15 household demand (community scale). Volume and therefore the production of biogas maybe increased or decreased in the design considered, and local, low cost resilient material were proposed. The proposed system was costed for a community of 24 people, demonstrating the potential for clean and renewable gas production economically

Height Partition Effect on Combined Mixed Convection and Surface Radiation in a Vented Rectangular Cavity

The present paper reports numerical results of mixed convection and surface radiation within a horizontal ventilated cavity heated from below and provided with an adiabatic thin partition on the heated surface. Air, a radiatively transparent medium, is considered to be the cooling fluid. The effect of the governing parameters, which are the Reynolds number, 200 Re 5000, the relative height of the baffle, 0 Hb 0.75, and the emissivity of the walls, 0 1, on the fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics is studied in detail. The maximum and mean temperatures, the ratio, QE/QL, of the heat quantities leaving the cavity through the exit, QE, and through the left vertical cold side, QL, are also presented versus the above controlling parameters

DNA Copy Number Analysis in Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors Using Gene Expression Microarrays

We report a method, Expression-Microarray Copy Number Analysis (ECNA) for the detection of copy number changes using Affymetrix Human Genome U133 Plus 2.0 arrays, starting with as little as 5 ng input genomic DNA. An analytical approach was developed using DNA isolated from cell lines containing various X-chromosome numbers, and validated with DNA from cell lines with defined deletions and amplifications in other chromosomal locations. We applied this method to examine the copy number changes in DNA from 5 frozen gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). We detected known copy number aberrations consistent with previously published results using conventional or BAC-array CGH, as well as novel changes in GIST tumors. These changes were concordant with results from Affymetrix 100K human SNP mapping arrays. Gene expression data for these GIST samples had previously been generated on U133A arrays, allowing us to explore correlations between chromosomal copy number and RNA expression levels. One of the novel aberrations identified in the GIST samples, a previously unreported gain on 1q21.1 containing the PEX11B gene, was confirmed in this study by FISH and was also shown to have significant differences in expression pattern when compared to a control sample. In summary, we have demonstrated the use of gene expression microarrays for the detection of genomic copy number aberrations in tumor samples. This method may be used to study copy number changes in other species for which RNA expression arrays are available, e.g. other mammals, plants, etc., and for which SNPs have not yet been mapped

Randomized Trial of Introduction of Allergenic Foods in Breast-Fed Infants.

BACKGROUND: The age at which allergenic foods should be introduced into the diet of breast-fed infants is uncertain. We evaluated whether the early introduction of allergenic foods in the diet of breast-fed infants would protect against the development of food allergy. METHODS: We recruited, from the general population, 1303 exclusively breast-fed infants who were 3 months of age and randomly assigned them to the early introduction of six allergenic foods (peanut, cooked egg, cow's milk, sesame, whitefish, and wheat; early-introduction group) or to the current practice recommended in the United Kingdom of exclusive breast-feeding to approximately 6 months of age (standard-introduction group). The primary outcome was food allergy to one or more of the six foods between 1 year and 3 years of age. RESULTS: In the intention-to-treat analysis, food allergy to one or more of the six intervention foods developed in 7.1% of the participants in the standard-introduction group (42 of 595 participants) and in 5.6% of those in the early-introduction group (32 of 567) (P=0.32). In the per-protocol analysis, the prevalence of any food allergy was significantly lower in the early-introduction group than in the standard-introduction group (2.4% vs. 7.3%, P=0.01), as was the prevalence of peanut allergy (0% vs. 2.5%, P=0.003) and egg allergy (1.4% vs. 5.5%, P=0.009); there were no significant effects with respect to milk, sesame, fish, or wheat. The consumption of 2 g per week of peanut or egg-white protein was associated with a significantly lower prevalence of these respective allergies than was less consumption. The early introduction of all six foods was not easily achieved but was safe. CONCLUSIONS: The trial did not show the efficacy of early introduction of allergenic foods in an intention-to-treat analysis. Further analysis raised the question of whether the prevention of food allergy by means of early introduction of multiple allergenic foods was dose-dependent. (Funded by the Food Standards Agency and others; EAT Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN14254740.)

Molecular Classification of Grade 3 Endometrioid Endometrial Cancers Identifies Distinct Prognostic Subgroups

Our aim was to investigate whether molecular classification can be used to refine prognosis in grade 3 endometrial endometrioid carcinomas (EECs). Grade 3 EECs were classified into 4 subgroups: p53 abnormal, based on mutant-like immunostaining (p53abn); MMR deficient, based on loss of mismatch repair protein expression (MMRd); presence of POLE exonuclease domain hotspot mutation (POLE); no specific molecular profile (NSMP), in which none of these aberrations were present. Overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates were compared using the Kaplan-Meier method (Log-rank test) and univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazard models. In total, 381 patients were included. The median age was 66 years (range, 33 to 96 y). Federation Internationale de Gynecologie et d'Obstetrique stages (2009) were as follows: IA, 171 (44.9%); IB, 120 (31.5%); II, 24 (6.3%); III, 50 (13.1%); IV, 11 (2.9%). There were 49 (12.9%) POLE, 79 (20.7%) p53abn, 115 (30.2%) NSMP, and 138 (36.2%) MMRd tumors. Median follow-up of patients was 6.1 years (range, 0.2 to 17.0 y). Compared to patients with NSMP, patients with POLE mutant grade 3 EEC (OS: hazard ratio [HR], 0.36 [95% confidence interval, 0.18-0.70]; P=0.003; RFS: HR, 0.17 [0.05-0.54]; P=0.003) had a significantly better prognosis; patients with p53abn tumors had a significantly worse RFS (HR, 1.73 [1.09-2.74]; P=0.021); patients with MMRd tumors showed a trend toward better RFS. Estimated 5-year OS rates were as follows: POLE 89%, MMRd 75%, NSMP 69%, p53abn 55% (Log rank P=0.001). Five-year RFS rates were as follows: POLE 96%, MMRd 77%, NSMP 64%, p53abn 47% (P=0.000001), respectively. In a multivariable Cox model that included age and Federation Internationale de Gynecologie et d'Obstetrique stage, POLE and MMRd status remained independent prognostic factors for better RFS; p53 status was an independent prognostic factor for worse RFS. Molecular classification of grade 3 EECs reveals that these tumors are a mixture of molecular subtypes of endometrial carcinoma, rather than a homogeneous group. The addition of molecular markers identifies prognostic subgroups, with potential therapeutic implications

Prevalence and Direct Economic Losses from Bovine Tuberculosis in Makurdi, Nigeria

A retrospective study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of bovine tuberculosis and direct economic losses (DEL) from tuberculosis in cattle slaughtered in Makurdi abattoirs from 2008 to 2012, using abattoir records obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Out of 61654 cattle slaughtered during the study period 1172 (1.90%) were positive for tuberculosis lesions. The annual prevalence of bovine tuberculosis ranges from 0.90% in 2008 to 4.04% in 2012. There was significant (P<0.05) difference in annual prevalence of bovine tuberculosis. It was also observed that there was no seasonal difference in the prevalence of bovine tuberculosis. A total of 1935 affected organs by BTB weighing 3046.50 kg, amounting to 2.91 × 106 Naira (1.82 × 104 USD), were condemned within the study period. Seasonal variation in organ condemnation due to bovine tuberculosis was significantly different (Mann-Whitney U statistics = 774 × 103, P=0.034). It was concluded that bovine tuberculosis is prevalent in Makurdi and accounts for heavy economic losses due to condemnation of edible organs

Concurrent use of prescription drugs and herbal medicinal products in older adults: A systematic review

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.The use of herbal medicinal products (HMPs) is common among older adults. However, little is known about concurrent use with prescription drugs as well as the potential interactions associated with such combinations. Objective Identify and evaluate the literature on concurrent prescription and HMPs use among older adults to assess prevalence, patterns, potential interactions and factors associated with this use. Methods Systematic searches in MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED, Web of Science and Cochrane from inception to May 2017 for studies reporting concurrent use of prescription medicines with HMPs in adults (≥65 years). Quality was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute checklists. The Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre (EPPI-Centre) three stage approach to mixed method research was used to synthesise data. Results Twenty-two studies were included. A definition of HMPs or what was considered HMP was frequently missing. Prevalence of concurrent use by older adults varied widely between 5.3% and 88.3%. Prescription medicines most combined with HMPs were antihypertensive drugs, beta blockers, diuretics, antihyperlipidemic agents, anticoagulants, analgesics, antihistamines, antidiabetics, antidepressants and statins. The HMPs most frequently used were: ginkgo, garlic, ginseng, St John’s wort, Echinacea, saw palmetto, evening primrose oil and ginger. Potential risks of bleeding due to use of ginkgo, garlic or ginseng with aspirin or warfarin was the most reported herb-drug interaction. Some data suggests being female, a lower household income and less than high school education were associated with concurrent use. Conclusion Prevalence of concurrent prescription drugs and HMPs use among older adults is substantial and potential interactions have been reported. Knowledge of the extent and manner in which older adults combine prescription drugs will aid healthcare professionals can appropriately identify and manage patients at risk.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio